The Digital Play.(Synthasia)(Theater review)

Byline: B.J. Lee

To watch a play is to step into a world that seems far removed from electronic bleeping and ringing--assuming, of course, that theatergoers remember to turn off their cell phones. At the Goyang Digital Theater on the outskirts of Seoul, however, managers have been imploring the audience to leave their phones on. During the performance, everybody is expected to whip out their mobiles, call into a computer and, using their keypads, direct the movement of puzzle pieces on the screen behind the stage. At some point, an ordinary housewife appears on the screen, connected from her kitchen via the Internet, and interacts with actors on the stage in real time.

These are some of the innovative features introduced in "Synthasia," an experimental play this summer at Goyang. The 50-minute production combines the latest digital technology with live actors, audiences and the stage. It's being billed as the first digital play to be shown in a theater. True or not, the play is a groundbreaking effort to introduce digital techniques to the theater, in the best-connected country on the planet. "If Nam June Paik's video art was for the 20th century, the digital play is for the 21st century," says director Goo Bon ...